Work experience documentation — competency-based assessment done right
Lesson 2 of 4 in P.Eng Licensure — PEO, EGBC, APEGA Pathway · 24 minutes
PEO and APEGA both assess experience through Competency-Based Assessment: concrete examples of what you did, confirmed by validators who observed your work. This lesson is the practical guide to documenting foreign and Canadian experience so it passes review the first time.
What you'll learn
- Document foreign engineering experience for Canadian regulators
- Prepare a PEO Competency-Based Assessment submission (Ontario applicants)
- Build an APEGA CBA portfolio (Alberta applicants)
- Start a work journal that captures evidence as you earn it
From the lesson
Documenting your engineering work experience is one of the most underestimated tasks in the P.Eng path. Canadian regulators no longer ask you to simply list jobs and years — they ask you to demonstrate specific competencies with concrete examples, each confirmed by a validator who actually observed your work. Done well, this passes review on first submission. Done poorly, it cycles back for revisions over months. This lesson is the practical guide. One caution before we start: PEO replaced its entire experience system in May 2023, so much of the advice circulating in forums and older guides describes a process that no longer exists. When this lesson and an old guide disagree, check the…